Xala (Temporary Impotence)

Sembene’s comic portrait of the new Dakar bourgeoisie was chosen as one of the British Film Institute’s 100 best films. This brilliantly funny, ironic satire goes sour when it is revealed that businessman El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye got his start by swindling his own family. “A masterpiece considered one of the best films to come out of Africa.” (Time Out New York). 1975, 35mm, in French and Wolof with English subtitles, 123 minutes.

Post-screening discussion led by John Mowitt, professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota.